Advent Celebration at First Lutheran Church in Decorah Dec. 5, 12

First Lutheran Church in Decorah will begin the season of Advent with two musical Vespers services Wednesday, Dec. 5 and Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m.

Both services are open to the public and feature the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Dietrich Buxtehude and Brooke Joyce.

Music will be provided Wednesday, Dec. 5, by the Luther College Collegium Musicum, directed by Kathryn Reed and by the Chancel Choir of First Lutheran Church, directed by Spencer Martin. Performers also include Luther College faculty members Tarn Travers, violin; Beth Ray Westlund, mezzo-soprano; and Andrew Whitfield, baritone. This service features settings of the Advent chorale "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" by Dietrich Buxtehude and Franz Tunder as well as "In the Beginning," a newly commissioned work by Brooke Joyce, written on the occasion of the sesquicentennial of First Lutheran Church.